Nandyal: Ina significant judgment, the First Additional District and Sessions Court, Kurnool, has sentenced an accused to 21 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.35,000 for kidnapping and repeatedly sexually assaulting a minor girl.

The case was registered at Nandyal II Town Police Station under Sections 366(A), 342, 376 r/w 116, 34 IPC and Section 5 r/w 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The convicted accused has been identified as Sake Raj Kumar @ Rojakunta Pedda (28), a resident of Rojakunta Street, Nandyal Town, who was already listed as a rowdy-sheeter under number 95 at the same police station.

In a press release on Friday, the Nandyal police have stated that according to the prosecution, on November 14, 2018, the complainant Kummari Mallaiah (45) returned home around 8:00 p.m. along with his wife, only to find their daughter, a Class 10 student at a private school in Nandyal, missing.

Initially, a case of a missing girl was registered. However, on March 11, 2019, after the victim returned and gave her statement, it was revealed that the accused had lured her with false promises of love, kidnapped her from her parents’ custody, confined her at various places, and repeatedly raped her.

The investigation also uncovered that A2 and A3 (parents of the accused) and A4 and A5 (siblings of the accused) had actively supported him in committing the crime. The case was altered to include charges of kidnapping, wrongful confinement, rape, and aggravated sexual assault under the POCSO Act.

The investigation was initially led by Inspector M Manjunath Reddy and later pursued further by DSP M Chidananda Reddy, who arrested the co-accused and filed a charge sheet on October 29, 2019. During the trial, Public Prosecutor CV Srinivasulu presented the evidence, and the court found the accused guilty beyond doubt.

Delivering the verdict, Judge Rajasri sentenced the prime accused to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.25,000 under POCSO charges, along with one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 for kidnapping, to run consecutively, totaling 21 years of imprisonment and Rs 35,000 fine.

This judgment stands as a stern warning against crimes targeting minors.